Great Eastern Ranges Initiative An Investors Guide Vision: The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative (GER) brings people and organisations together to protect, link and restore healthy habitats over 3,600km, from western Victoria through NSW and the ACT to far north Queensland. Our Iconic Ranges
The Great Eastern Ranges form a The beauty and high diversity of the Great Eastern mountainous spine that runs the length Ranges, their rich cultural and social history, and of the continent, separating the coast abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation attract millions of local and international visitors from the arid interior. They span a vast every year boosting our economy. 3,600 kilometers (2,237 miles) stretching from the majestic Grampian Ranges in In the future, the Great Eastern Ranges will play a western Victoria, along the Great Divide vital role in helping to reduce the impacts of climate change, ensure resilient ecosystems and provide and Eastern Escarpment of New South critical refuge areas for a plethora of native species Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, enabling them to move and adapt to a warming to the wet tropics and remote Cape York climate. Peninsula in Queensland's far northeast. However this spectacular landscape is under From their undulating heath covered slopes pressure: habitat for a range of unique species to the towering cliffs of Mount Kosciuszko the being lost and fragmented by rapid development, Great Eastern Ranges are a biodiversity hotspot, an expanding coastal population encroaching supporting 60% of Australia’s threatened animals from the east and climate change forcing cooler and 70% of its plants. Living fossils like the conditions upslope from the increasingly arid west. Wollemi Pine and the world’s richest diversity of ancient flowering rainforest plants provide living The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative (GER) is a connections to our deep geological history. grand vision to protect, restore and relink habitat to enable nature and people to continue to thrive. The Great Eastern Ranges form the watershed and headwaters for the major river catchments of eastern Australia, providing clean water for over two thirds of the continent’s population, whilst their dense forests soak up vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and filter the air we breath. Run-off from the ranges flows into the Great Artesian Basin on the one side, creating the only reliable source of water for much of inland eastern Australia, and into the Pacific Ocean on the other.
“ The GER vision is an internationally significant investment in a better Australia and a continental scale response to climate change.
Dr. Graeme Worboys, Former Vice Chair Mountains and Connectivity, International “ Union for Conservation of Nature World Commission on Protected Areas
Glider photo © Ester Beaton The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative
Cairns The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative empowered decision makers, resource (GER) brings people and organisations stewards and innovators through opportunities together to protect, link and restore for learning and involvement. healthy habitats over 3,600km, from We are a voluntary partnership involving more western Victoria through NSW and the than 250 local, regional and national organisations ACT to far north Queensland. representing a broad spectrum of natural resource Great Eastern managers and conservation stakeholders: GER has been developed to stem the loss of native Ranges Aboriginal people and field naturalists, Landcare species, provide natural solutions to a changing and local government, public land managers and climate, protect precious resources and ensure a research institutions, businesses and educators, healthy, resilient landscape for wildlife and people. policy makers and scientists.
Since 2007, GER has been working in priority We take a strategic and scientific approach to regions across the ranges to deliver innovative conservation, working on collaborative projects solutions to: to relink the landscape at the local level, whilst • Sustain the habitats and migration routes of a aligning our efforts to assist natural processes at multitude of native animals and plants. the whole-of-landscape level. • Secure and rebuild carbon in one of the world’s HINTERLAND By concentrating our efforts in the highest priority 1 BUSH LINKS most resilient living carbon stores. places, we are achieving something far greater • Preserve the rivers, wetlands and lakes than the sum of our parts – securing the future of Brisbane that supply three quarters of Australia's 24 Queensland one of the world’s great landscapes and the wildlife BORDER million residents, farmers and industries with and people that depend upon it. 2 RANGES fresh water. ALLIANCE • Maintain the many cultural, social, scenic and New South Wales recreational values of the ranges for the health JALIIGIRR and wellbeing of local communities. 3 BIODIVERSITY • Ensure productive living landscapes. ALLIANCE • Build the next generation of skilled and
KANANGRA BOYD HUNTER VALLEY 8 TO WYANGALA LINK 4 PARTNERSHIP Sydney ILLAWARRA TO SLOPES TO 5 SHOALHAVEN 9 SUMMIT 10 CENTRAL VICTORIA SOUTHERN BIOLINKS ALLIANCE Canberra 6 HIGHLANDS LINK
KOSCIUSZKO TO 7 COAST Melbourne Victoria Unique Species
The Great Eastern Ranges are home to more than 60% of Australia's threatened animals and 70% of its plants, and contain the continent's richest diversity of Eucalypt and Acacia species. Unique species like the Cassowary, Richmond Birdwing Butterfly, Koala, Wollemi Pine and Mountain Pygmy Possum all live within its valleys Living Fossils Tree-dwelling Kangaroos and peaks. In the future, the more reliable Thought to be long extinct, the Wollemi Pine was Superbly adapted to moving across the tree canopy, rainfall and higher altitudes of the Great Eastern rediscovered in a gorge in the Blue Mountains in 1994. the extraordinary Tree-kangaroos of Queensland’s Wet Ranges will serve as vital climate refuges for One of the world's rarest tree species dating back 200 Tropics have become restricted to high altitude areas species migrating from the dryer coastline and million years, this living fossil is one of several ancient and ever decreasing patches of remnant vegetation. inland Australia. rainforest plants found in the Great Eastern Ranges.
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Koala Native Australian Cats Gliding Possums The iconic koala recognised around the world gets its The cat size Tiger Quoll is mainland Australia’s largest Australia is home to nine species of gliding possum, name from the Aboriginal word meaning "no drink". Once carnivorous marsupial. Since European settlement ranging in size from the world’s smallest gliding common across Australia, populations of this unique populations of this native predator have been mammal, the Feather-tailed Glider, to one of the marsupial have declined dramatically over the past few decimated and quolls now remain in only isolated most vulnerable, Queensland’s critically endangered decades primarily due to habitat loss and fragmentation. patches of rugged terrain. Mahogany Glider.
Dinosaur Birds Painted Frogs Egg-Laying Mammals Shy and solitary, the unmistakable Cassowary of far north Unique amongst the frog world, coroboree frogs Inhabiting the riverbanks and forests of eastern Queensland sports a vivid blue neck, long drooping red produce their own poison rather than obtain it from Australia, the Platypus and Echidna are two of only wattles and high helmet. Cassowaries play an important their food. These tiny, striking frogs are restricted to five species in the world that lay eggs and suckle role in maintaining the diversity of rainforest trees by a small 400km2 patch in the sub alpine regions of their young. helping to disperse seeds over vast distances. southern NSW and Victoria. Iconic Landscapes
Grounded in the bedrock of the third longest • Australia’s highest waterfall, Wallaman Falls, land-based mountain system on Earth, the largest exposed granite monolith, Bald Rock, and Great Eastern Ranges provide a spectacular tallest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko; backdrop to life. • Ancient volcanic remnants (Mount Surprise, Glasshouse Mountains, Border Ranges, Reflecting a unique geological heritage, they Warrumbungles); and are underlain with vast expanses of sandstone, interspersed with volcanic outcrops and pock-marked • Vast limestone cave systems (Jenolan, Wombeyan with limestone caves. These iconic landscapes and Buchan). Snowy River and the Australian Alps The green cauldron support a thriving nature-based tourism industry and The Snowy Mountains are inland Australia’s highest Occupying the lush subtropical cauldron formed by attract millions of national and international visitors. mountain range and contain Mount Kosciuszko, the the extinct shield volcanoes of the Border Ranges, the The Great Eastern Ranges encompass: continent’s tallest mountain which stands at 2,228 World Heritage listed Gondwana Rainforests include metres (7,309 feet). The snowies form part of the the most extensive areas of subtropical rainforest in • World Heritage Listed tropical rainforests, larger Australian Alps National Heritage Area, a major the world and nearly all of the Antarctic beech cool hanging swamps, striking views and sandstone tourist destination renowned for its scenic beauty temperate rainforest. These ancient forests provide pagodalands; and opportunities for outdoor recreation, particularly habitat for more than 200 rare or threatened plants skiing and hiking. and animals including the Spotted-tailed Quoll, Koala and Albert’s Lyrebird.
Gariwerd: Birthplace of the Ranges Ranges, Rainforests and Reef Looking to the Outback Greater Blue Mountains
Known to the local Aboriginal people as ‘Gariwerd’, The Wet Tropics span a vast 2.2 million hectares, The forests, woodlands, rivers and hills flanking the The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, the rugged Grampian Ranges of western Victoria encompassing the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area Great Divide form a complex network of connections New South Wales’ largest integrated system of comprise a series of sandstone mountain ranges of and the breath-taking Great Barrier Reef which lures reaching westwards from the main range out to protected areas, is renowned for its natural beauty outstanding natural beauty. With a history stretching 2 million visitors every year with its rainbow waters. the dry ridgelines and savannah woodlands of the and historical and cultural significance. Close to the back thousands of years, the National Heritage listed This part of the Great Eastern Ranges is home to inland. These landscape ribs create important natural burgeoning city of Sydney, the Blue Mountains serve Grampians National Park contains one of the richest a rich diversity of tropical species, including over east-west corridors enabling species to migrate away as a welcome retreat for locals, providing a chance Indigenous rock art sites in south-east Australia and 3,000 species of plant and a multitude of unique from the extremes of Australia’s inland. for city dwellers to reconnect with nature whilst also today continues to hold a special place in the heart of animals such as Lumholtz’s Tree-kangaroo and attracting millions of international visitors. the Aboriginal people. the Cassowary. Illustration from the National Wildlife Corridors Plan (Australian Government, 2012). Modified with permission.
Ecosystem Services Contain critically important refuge areas for species migrating in response to a changingchang climate. The Great Eastern Ranges provide a multitude of social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits. Contain extensive intact forests, Store vast amounts of carbon in their dense mangroves and wetlands which forests, wetlands, and peatlands regulating provide natural buffers against storms, local temperaturesemperature and rainfall patterns. cyclones, bushfiresshfirefires and drought. Home to the highest Rich with Aboriginal cultural concentration of bird and heritage sites which serve as mammalmam species in Australia. a living history book tracing Contain easily accessible green spaces bbackack thousands of years. for relaxation and recreation boosting mental aand physical wellbeing.
Supply fresh drinking Contain wetlands that traprap water for two thirds of nutrients and sediments,s, the continent’s population.on. purifying the water usedd forffo drinking, agriculture andd
Draw thousands of international and local visitors boosting thee economy and generating tenss ofo thousands of jobs.
SSupplyupply vvital, clean water to sensitive coastal habitats including the Great Barrier Reef.
Contain fertile soils, rich biodiversity, reliable SSupport the healthy ecosystems that clcclimate and water for the Murray-Darling Basin ffacilitate pollination and seed dispersal, inn which 30 per cent of Australia’s national benefiting crops and helping to maintain foffoodo supply is grown. natural plant communities. Why do we need GER?
Faced by an increasing number of threats Providing Leadership
including habitat loss and degradation, Experience in GER and elsewhere demonstrates a rapidly expanding population and climate the essential role local leadership plays in delivering change, the Great Eastern Ranges is a successful projects on the ground. Coordination landscape under pressure. In the past, at a regional scale enables the often disparate natural landscapes were well connected conservation activities of groups and organisations and continuous. Today roads, fences to work in sync. Regional partnerships provide a forum to facilitate agreement on strategic priorities, and buildings serve to carve up the land develop greater understanding of contributions into small islands, acting as blockages to made via on-ground delivery and coordinate species movements, reducing available activities across different groups and project sites. habitat and impacting on precious natural resources. Strengthening Capacity GER invests strongly in building and enabling the Research has shown that the traditional method of capacity of partner organisations, landholders conserving isolated pockets of habitat does not on and the wider community to increase skills, its own ensure the long-term survival of species and raise awareness of conservation and improve ecosystems. To truly conserve the ranges’ unique coordination of local conservation activities. species, facilitate migration, maintain healthy ecosystem processes and increase the resilience Cross Tenure Solutions of the land, a whole-of-landscape approach With partners representing the full spectrum of to conservation is needed. This will become private land instruments in Australia, GER is in the increasingly important as climate change forces unique position of being able to offer and guide species to seek new habitat and refuge areas, and landholders on the range of options open to them ecosystems are put under further pressure. to contribute to the GER. This is an essential A Focus for Effort prerequisite to developing commitment to contribute to a wider outcome and in many cases helps to GER is unique in providing a common vision, refine priorities or scheduling of work to better geographic focus, agreed priorities and complement neighbours’ efforts. locally-led partnerships to deliver coordinated projects and activities across the full length of the ranges. Together with our partners, we work The Great Eastern Ranges are arguably the terrestrial equivalent of the to identify projects and opportunities at the local “ Great Barrier Reef: a massively complex, diverse and iconic part of our scale, bringing together the skills and strengths of different organisations and individuals to find global heritage. innovative solutions to address common landscape conservation goals. We work across all land tenures Bob Debus, Former NSW Environment Minister “ and jurisdictions, sharing data, science, and and current Chair of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative. capacity to achieve our objectives. Leadership and action partnerships
GER is built on a foundation of To achieve our vision we: collaborative public-private partnerships. • Encourage landholders to protect vegetation Advisory Groups GER Board Ten Regional Partnerships provide a on their land to provide core habitat for native focus for local action, bringing together Science & Technical Strategic plan, operational framework, animals and plants and maintain vital migration Marketing & Fundraising priorities, fundraising, budgets and brand landholders, agencies, non-government routes; Members’ Forum organisations, community and indigenous • Create new habitat to enhance natural groups, researchers, councils and industry connections and rebuild carbon stores; to collectively plan and carry out projects. • Control the spread of invasive species; In addition, over 250 regional, state and national GER Executive organisations have chosen to align their own • Work with researchers to increase knowledge Facilitate, coordinate, document, communicate and report activities with the GER vision. By leveraging the and track achievements; combined power and knowledge of both our • Enable the sharing of traditional land Partners and Regional Partnerships we are able management practices and knowledge; and to expand our reach to create corridors of effort encompassing the full extent of the Great Eastern • Build the next generation of skilled and empowered decision makers, resource Ranges. GER Programs Partnerships stewards and innovators through opportunities GER is led by an independent Board, a small Science Program Regional Partnerships for life-long learning and involvement. Regional Facilitation Program National organisations national executive with program management, Conservation Program Funders & Supporters business development, marketing, coordination and partnership facilitation skills, supported by advisory groups with specialist expertise in capacity building, communications, science and fundraising. Achievements
The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative (GER) • Close to 2,000 people trained through capacity has grown to become one of the world’s building workshops resulting in almost 600 largest connectivity conservation projects. landholders adopting improved land management practices. Established in 2007 by the NSW State Government, • Establishment of a GER Science Panel to develop GER has successfully transitioned to a mature public- a prospectus to inform priorities and stimulate private partnership with independent leadership and investment in research. a presence across four states and territories. The • Established ten regional partnerships original AU$11 million invested by government has encompassing a network of more than 250 leveraged $44 million in co-investment from private national, state and regional organisations. foundations, government grants, aligned program • Reached an estimated 4.5 million people through investment and private contributions. communications materials and media coverage. Thanks to the support of our investors, partners and • Influenced the development of Australia’s ‘National volunteers, GER has been able to achieve many Wildlife Corridors Plan’, a world-leading policy significant results in a relatively short timeframe: developed in 2012 to link broader community
• Protection and improved management of over involvement in landscape conservation.
26,000 hectares of native habitat on private land. GER continues to be a focus for collaboration, bringing • Strategic management of invasive species over together the skills and capabilities of a broad range of 120,000 hectares since 2013. people and organisations to achieve connectivity at • Over 168,000 individual plantings and a further the whole-of-landscape level. 41,500 hectares of habitat restored to strengthen vital habitat connections.
The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative will make a globally “ significant difference, as well as a difference to the lives and future of every Australian.
Harvey Locke, a founder of Yellowstone to Yukon “
© Leigh Blackmore An investment in GER is an investment in the future of eastern Australia's natural resources, wildlife and people. By investing in GER you are supporting a strong proven partnership to deliver effective and long term conservation benefits across the Great Eastern Ranges.
Opportunities Facilitating on ground action Ensuring Clean Water Empowering local communities Helping to secure our landscapes by funding local Ensuring clean, secure and reliable water sources Helping to build the skills and capacity of local for investment collaborative projects with landholders that help to for wildlife, farming and industry by supporting landholders, students and Aboriginal people to re-establish natural connections between private land projects that restore riparian corridors and wetlands, improve and maintain the health and productivity of The funds you provide will be used to support and protected areas across the Great Eastern Ranges to and promote improved land management practices. their land, manage threats and increase the resilience a wide range of onground projects in priority preserve their ancient rainforests, rich biodiversity and of local ecosystems through workshops and training. Managing Biosecurity locations, and to maintain critical capacity at thriving tourism industry. Improving Health and Wellbeing national and regional level including: Assisting GER to manage the most widespread and Supporting National Leadership pervasive threats to our natural resources, ecosystems Ensuring a healthy and accessible environment that Investing in our national leadership so that GER can and rural livelihoods through strategic management supports wellbeing, culture, active communities and a continue to provide strategic planning, implementation of weeds and feral animals across public and sound economy. and coordination and help communicate lessons learnt. private land. Research and Monitoring
Providing Regional Capacity Brokering Carbon Support vital research and monitoring projects that Providing essential funding for our Regional Partnership Enabling us to promote and target the investment of combine the strength of citizen science, emerging Facilitators so that they can continue to maintain and voluntary carbon emissions offsets into protecting, technologies and world-leading research institutions establish partnerships, inspire participation and leverage maintaining and restoring resilient and biodiverse to monitor change in landscape health and track the capacity and skills of our many partners. carbon stocks. project outcomes.
Red-capped Robin © patrickkavanagh, Flikr Seeing the evolution of great ideas taking shape, being “ moulded by great champions and slowly becoming realities on the ground, that is the story of GER. “ Penny Figgis, AO Vice Chair for Oceania IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas To find out more about how you can invest in Australia’s largest conservation initiative visit www.greateasternranges.org.au